In reply to Amanda.

No, "The Velvet Rope" is certainly not a flop (hence why I put the word flop in quotation marks) but each album represents a more challenging album than the one that preceded it sans Tori because ALL of her albums are challenging.

janet, Like A Prayer, Purple Rain, and Baduizm all came before the albums I mentioned and they were monster sellers. On their next albums, each artist took a risk, regardless of what they would or would not sale. That's my point.

Rihanna needs to release her music without thinking about the charts, especially at this point in the campaign. As long as the music is amazing, that's all that will matter in the end.